Conor Lenihan (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)

I do not wish to be political. From a taxpayer's point of view, we must look at how these things are constructed. We need to learn from Mr. Justice Morris's report and how it did its work. It was certainly not cheap. I accept what Senator Walsh said in regard to capping fees. That would be laudable in the short to medium term. However, the tribunal has done its work very effectively.

Some 78 of the 102 civil actions which have flowed from this tribunal have already been resolved at a cost of €11 million. The State has seen an effective tribunal investigate some serious and depressing allegations and they have been responded to quickly and effectively by the Government. I am sure other Governments would have done the same had they been placed in the same position. It so happens we have been in power for the past ten years and it was our responsibility, with our various coalition partners and Ministers, to respond to those allegations over the period. There was a timely response to them. We now have a much more reformed force, with more civilianisation and more professional managers with technical specialties coming into the force in technical areas in which it is not necessary for gardaí to be involved. We are bringing in superb, strong management.

The Garda Síochána inspectorate is in existence. This is a fantastic operation led by a fantastic woman, Ms Kathleen O'Toole, who formerly delivered policing in Boston. She is undertaking reform and finding out how to make the force more efficient every day. I am impressed with her work. One of the early revelations of the inspectorate's work was a simple matter concerning the collection of crime statistics from various districts in the Dublin area. There were glaring disparities between, for instance, the Terenure district and its adjacent district, Templeogue, which had a similar profile in terms of population and suburban settlement but vastly different detection rates. Ms Kathleen O'Toole has addressed this issue in a profound way, raising standards, getting gardaí to concentrate on the crimes that matter in their area and that happen with frequency. Often over the years prior to the input of the inspectorate, Garda effort and time was misapplied on crimes that were not the main priority in a particular district. There can be enormous variations, as Members of this House know only too well, particularly in an urban setting, between one type of suburb and another or in one part of the inner city and another. That work is continuing.

Another response has been the creation of the Garda Ombudsman and the strengthened internal procedures now in place, which many Members mentioned, around the concept of the whistleblower. It is not perhaps the grand whistleblower inquisitor Senator Quinn would desire, but there is a strong commitment by Government through an Act of Parliament to insist there is a proper confidential complaint procedure in place for individual officers who see malpractice or corruption occurring in the force. This system is good and can be vindicated. We have had a few complaints already and the system is working well.

Senators Alex White and Boyle made some timely interventions. Senator Quinn, given his entrepreneurial, business and executive experience, would probably agree that the culture of the Garda Síochána, whether it be at management or lower levels, is entirely changed because of these reforms. We are good in this and the other House at calling for root and branch reform, changes and more regulation. It is hugely important that the leadership and culture issues of an organisation are addressed and changed. It is important that the culture in an organisation such as the Garda Síochána is not one where a person becomes commissioner because it is a Buggin's turn ritual but that we get seriously specialised managerially qualified competent people into the senior positions, whether they be civilians or serving members of the force. One makes a lifelong commitment to a force such as this or to an organisation such as the one Senator Quinn led in the retail operation of Superquinn. It is important to commit to continuous improvement in quality and standards, as Senator Quinn blazed a trail in the retail sector in Ireland. That is happening and there is such a commitment. It is remarkable.

I have only been around for a few years but I have seen a few Garda Commissioners come and go. There is no doubt that the current incumbent and the last few have been of a higher order in terms of their professionalism, conduct and determination to make real improvements in terms of crime detection and in terms of management of the organisation.

I am not chiding Senator Cummins and I know he has to score political points, but my senior ministerial colleague, Deputy Dermot Ahern — I have been a Minister of State in Departments with him for the entirety of the short duration of my ministerial career, now in the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform and previously in the Department of Foreign Affairs — is not the sort of person who, as Senator Regan depicted him, engages in spin. The Minister felt profoundly that it was important that the voice of Mr. Justice Morris and his opinions, which had been criticised by Members, were vindicated and brought to the notice of the House. That is important. We must be self-critical. This report is somewhat critical of the two Deputies mentioned, but I agree with Senator Alex White it is not to the point that it is blaming them or saying that they acted in bad faith.

The most timely quote from the report is on page 158, which caught my eye. It states: "Politicians must be attuned to the possibilities that they are being used to advance a wholly false agenda by constituents who may be unscrupulous, deceitful, or have an agenda against the person or persons against whom they make allegations." It is timely to quote that reference. We all have a moral responsibility to double check and quadruple check our sources of information before invoking the power and privilege we enjoy in this House. As Members, people come to us in confidence. I support some of the Opposition Senators' views on the privilege aspect. There must be some cover for a Deputy or Senator who is in receipt of highly confidential information that may be pungent or explosive in metaphorical terms. It is hugely important that some account is given to the privileged positions we hold and people trust us generally speaking. I know we all score political points around that concept of how much we are valued or trusted, if at all, by the public, but we are trusted when people who are vulnerable come to us and ask us to inquire or investigate. We must be sensitive in how we do that.

I do not believe the Minister, Deputy Dermot Ahern, was having a go at either the distinguished former Deputy Jim Higgins, now an MEP, or the very distinguished Leas-Cheann Comhairle, Deputy Brendan Howlin.